Why is there no ‘n’ in ‘restaurateur’?

Food is restorative, for sure. But restore is not the first word we associate with eating—we tend to use words with more specific meanings, such as nutritious or delicious. But even though restore is not the first word that comes to mind when discussing food, restaurant is, and it derives from the same word the French gave us restore.

restaurant dining table design with brick wall background

Hope you’re craving… knowledge.

French verbs Restaurant Owners means “to restore”, although the meanings “to restore or return” and “to repair or return to good condition” are not as commonly used in French as they are in contemporary English. Restaurant Owners no, however, there is a meaning that English restore no: “serve food for” or, as reflexive verb Restaurant Owners, “eat.” This meaning dates back to the 12th century in French and evolved from the Latin verb restaurant. A noun developed by about 1500 from the present participle of Restaurant Owners, restaurant (“recovery”) originally meant “energy drink” or broth, or more generally, “food or drink that gives strength.” Telling someone “have a bit of a restaurant” obviously sounds funny in English, but the meaning is closer to recover“something that restores strength.”

In spite of restaurant does not mean “to restore”, some English nouns have evolved from French present participles used this way, like learned (“know” becomes “one who knows”), residents (“occupier” becomes “occupier”), remnants (“remaining” becomes “remaining”) and renter (“holder” becomes “holder”).

Restaurant began to be used as a word meaning “a business where you can buy and eat a meal” in French in the 1760s. But since the primary meaning is “recoverer”, a figure Another form was also used for this new concept at that time: Restaurant Owners (“restorer”). Competition forms were all introduced into English around the 1800s with the same meaning and Restaurant Owners meaning “restaurant” is still included in Merriam-Webster’s not shortened until 1961.

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Final, restaurant has become the fancy term for business and Restaurant Owners means “owner or proprietor of a restaurant” – but notably continues to be spelled without WOMENthis can be confusing, because restaurant is far and far from the more common word.

Just remember that you get WOMENOurs from a restaurant, but you probably shouldn’t take a bite from a restaurant owner.

PS – Contrary to the title of this article, we, as it happens, enter Restaurant Owners as a less common variant of Restaurant Owners, and so you can always use this spelling and point to our website if you feel like arguing with someone on the matter. Many people see Restaurant Owners a fatal error, and so you might want to stick with Restaurant Owners – life is too short and precious to waste it arguing with people about this.

Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

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